Syrian Government Said Trying to Halt Paper

Published June 17th, 2001 - 03:00 GMT

Renowned Syrian cartoonist Ali Farzat has claimed the government is trying to ban the coming issue of his satirical weekly, Al Domari, after it receiv

Renowned Syrian cartoonist Ali Farzat has claimed the government is trying to ban the coming issue of his satirical weekly, Al Domari, after it received inside information about an anti-government article.

Farzat told reporters that police units stormed a printing press where his paper, the first private publication approved since the ruling Baath party seized power in 1963, is printed and ordered the workers there to halt printing.

He attributed the move to an article he wrote criticizing the performance of Prime Minister Mustapha Miro’s government, a very rare thing to happen in the Arab country.

But Farzat fell short of charging that force was used to stop the edition from going public.

“The article criticizes the government’s performance and Miro’s dissatisfaction over some of his personnel’s ignorance of his decisions,” the chief editor said.

He added that Information Minister Adnan Imran had warned him against publishing anti-government stories. Farzat added that he had no idea how Imran knew of the article in question.

The word “domari” in the local dialect refers to a person who used to carry a lantern and guide passersby in the dark streets of the Syrian towns before electricity was used – Albawaba.com